Method and software for improving coronary calcium scoring consistency

Abstract

Methods and devices for improving the machine-to-machine and temporal (e.g., inter and intra-machine) and database consistency of coronary calcium scoring by applying a filtering algorithm that sharpens and / or smoothes the image so as to return a filtered image having a spatial resolution of a certain reference value.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]The present application claims benefit under 37 C.F.R. § 1.78 to Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60 / 332,452, filed Nov. 20, 2001, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.[0002]The present application is also related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 860,030, filed May 16, 2001, entitled “Accreditation Maintenance Through Remote Site Monitoring,” Ser. No. 09 / 908,466, filed Aug. 17, 2001, entitled “Methods for Generating a Lung Report,” and Ser. No. 10 / 096,356, filed Mar. 11, 2002, entitled “Systems, Methods, and Software for Generating a Risk Report,” the complete disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]The present invention generally relates to medical imaging software, methods, and databases. Specifically, the present invention relates to improving machine-to-machine and temporal (e.g., inter and intra-machine) consistency of coronary calcium sco...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The present invention provides methods, software, devices, databases, and systems for improving the consistency of calcium scoring between imaging machines. By periodically measuring the spatial resolution of the imaging device and comparing it to a reference spatial resolution, the effects of temporal and inter-scanner performance differences can be minimized. The methods involve measuring the spatial resolution of a phantom and applying a filter algorithm to adjust the resolution of the image to match the reference resolution. The system includes an imaging unit that measures the spatial resolution and a computer system with a memory that stores the reference resolution. The invention also provides a phantom for calibrating the spatial resolution of the imaging device. Overall, the invention reduces the effect of temporal and inter-scanner performance differences and allows for a larger scale database to use information from multiple scanners."

Problems solved by technology

Because there is no one-to-one correspondence between the effects of changing spatial resolution and the Agatston scoring process, the Agatston Score itself cannot be corrected once measured.

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